Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Acquires New Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth $25,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 116.7% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 0.8 %

AFL stock opened at $108.29 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.05 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.93.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.